James Monroe Senior Cameron Crislip Wins Improbable AA Long Jump Title

Cameron Crislip stepped to the winner's podium at UC Stadium on Laidley Field in Charleston Saturday clearly humbled by the moment.

Returning to the Long Jump event for the first time in two years, Crislip pulled off likely the most improbable win of the 2025 West Virginia State Track Meet.

"This feels really good," Crislip said, smiling. "I (feel like) I could have practiced harder and put in more work than I did, but with baseball it is hard to make it to all of the practices and all of the meets. I am just glad to be here. I'm glad I got the medal."

Crislip has been a key member of the Mavericks baseball team which opens regional championship play Monday night at Wyoming East.

The senior standout has a .443 on base percentage and is one of the team leaders in runs batted in this year.

"I have been doing (long jump) since middle school, but I didn't do it last year," Crislip explained. "I wanted to do it this year. I knew it would probably be the last time I ever did it, so I decided to do it."

In his previous Class A Region 3 meet as a sophomore, Crislip jumped 17-feet, 6-inches which was eighth and did not qualify for a trip to the state meet.

In his final regional meet just over a week back, Crislip, now competing in Class AA, jumped 19-feet, 11.5-inches to finish third.

With only the top two spots earning automatic berths in the state tournament, Crislip had to wait to see if he had earned one of the eight at-large bids.

Thankfully the James Monroe standout qualified, but at that point, Crislip was nary a blip on the state championship radar.

Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday morning, Crislip needed to navigate the preliminary round to advance to the finals, which he did successfully with some solid jumps.

When crunch time arrived, Crislip found another gear, saving his best career jumps for when it mattered most.

"I figured I would make it (to states), but I didn't think I would win it. I am glad I won though," Crislip said. "I felt pretty good this morning. I wasn't sore. I haven't had a baseball game in a while. I was feeling pretty good today. I stretched good before I jumped."

Crislip's jump of 20-feet, 9.75 inches topped the event favorite by .75 inches. He is also the first athlete in James Monroe history to win the Long Jump championship.